Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 11

Kingsport Times-News Thursday July 30 1992 biggest bunch of words Fve ever seen to say Wise superintendent comments on report of panel on Literacy Passport scores By JEFF BUCHANAN Southwest Virginia Bureau heading writing and mathematical ability at the sixth-'grade level before entering the ninth grade Those who pass the test by the end of their eighth-grade year can take ninth-grade courses but will be classified as ungraded Students must pass the test to participate in sports or graduate Robert Linn co-director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation Brenda Loyd a University of Virginia education professor William Mehrens a Michigan State University educational measurement professor and Edward Roeber director of the Student Assessment program at the Council of Chief State School Officers served on the panel Gumm described the memo accompanying decision as biggest bunch of words ever seen to say Wise County sixth-graders did a little better than the state average with 5 percent fewer students passing the writing section in 1992 than in 1991' Scott passing rate for sixth-graders on the writing test fell from 80 percent in 1991 to 73 percent in 1992 Please see PANEL page 2B George Gumm summed up in one sentence Wednesday what it took the Virginia Department of Education three pages to explain: you raise the score necessary to pass the writing section of the Literacy Passport test more students are going to said Gumm who is associate superintendent of Wise County Schools According to a Department of Education press release more students failed the writing portion of the test in 1992 than in 1991 because the 1991 passing score was too low Although school divisions reported a 10 percent decline in the passing rate from 1991 to 1992 Joseph A Spagnolo Jr state superintendent of public instruction said he found no reason to adjust the latest scores Spagnolo appointed a panel of testing experts to study the test and scoring procedures earlier this year That panel found that the passing score for 1990-91 was too low and that the lower 1991-92 score should not be adjusted Virginia students must pass the Literacy Passport test which measures Timet-Newi photo Earl Carter CVC fall semester begins Aug 25 Clinch Valley College students may pay fees for the fall semester beginning Monday Aug 3 The early-pay option is open to full-and part-time students on weekdays from 9 am to 3 pm at the Business Office in Smid-dy Hall through Aug 21 Those who do not elect to use the early-pay option may pay their tuition and fees at the regular registration Aug 24 Classes begin Tuesday Aug 25 Hill cancels ODU appearance NORFOLK Citing a potentially hostile response Anita Hill has canceled a September lecture at Old Dominion University the school said Wednesday controversy is what prompted her to cancel the visit I am surprised because I think people in her situation know how to deal with that and been in the spotlight for a said Kay A Kemper vice president for university relations Nancy Bazin an English professor said Old Dominion officials were told Hill had received hate mail from southeastern Virginia Hill a law professor at the University of Oklahoma told the Senate Judiciary Committee last year that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her Thomas eventually was confirmed Birds fly so ship can leave NEWPORT NEWS A World War II cargo ship was cleared to leave its mooring on the James River after two osprey chicks nesting in the smokestack learned how to fly federal officials said The ship part of the James River Reserve Fleet' had been sold for scrap to a company in India Because ospreys are federally protected the US Fish and Wildlife Service would not allow the Tulane Victory to leave the river until the chicks started flying That happened Tuesday afternoon said Anthony Schiavone reserve fleet superintendent The ship which was to depart July 20 now is expected to leave Thursday The osprey can nest in any of the remaining 140 ships moored in storage on the James Fugitive may have staged suicide QUANTICO Federal authorities Wednesday said they are searching for a Marine Corps sergeant who may have staged his own death while awaiting a court-martial on sodomy child molestation and desertion Master Sgt Phillip Anthony Moore 38 was scheduled to appear before a court-martial July 20 Four days before his court appearance investigators discovered a letter from Moore indicating that he was planning to commit suicide rather than go to prison FBI officials said The letter stated that he would leave his car near his former residence in Dale City and that his body could be found in the woods nearby officials said Investigators from the FBI and the Naval Investigative Service found vehicle July 16 in Dale City but failed to find body de- QnitA A twoHov oooroV McCfS hd bCCH Paved beach Mike Cox and sunbathers Cindy Bloomer center and Christy Staggs do their best to add an authentic ambiance Wednesday to the window display at Nettie Lee Ladies Shop on Broad Street featuring Jpntzen swimwear A number of downtown businesses are featuring special windows for Fun Fest Mardi Gras Chincoteague event draws 40000 Wild ponies make their annual channel swim By JOE TAYLOR Associated Press Writer Timei-Newi photo Ned Jllton II love said Pauline Hayes of Seabrook Md so exciting Each year I still want to come back The herd of about 200 ponies believed to be descended from Spanish mustangs brought to the New World by explorers has to be thinned to 150 each year About 50 of the ponies will be auctioned Thursday to benefit the local volunteer fire department which owns and cares for the animals Last auction raised $35000 The pony swim was made famous by Marguerite 1947 book In recent years animal rights activists have questioned whether the ponies Please see PONIES page 2B Parking lot mishap CHINCOTEAGUE Va Dozens of wild ponies swam from their Assatea-gue Island home to Chincoteague Wednesday repeating for the 67th time the annual spectacle made famous by the book of About 40000 tourists attended the event though not all were impressed far my impression is it worth the said Harry Wolin of Evanston 111 who read a mystery novel while waiting for the ponies to swim the quarter-mile channel Most of the visitors cheered the ponies on No one was hurt in an accident in which a car driven by 76-year-old Lucille Dean 120 Thomas St slammed into two parked cars in the Kings-Giant Plaza parking lot Wednesday afternoon Apparently Dean the driver of the Ford Granada was traveling west through the lot and stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake according to Kingsport police Officer David Moore car hit a Ford Escort and a Cadillac knocking the Ebcon itito the well the sule ntn 1 lr -1 rtVJ i cvdi ili iil pleads guilty to safety violations Dust settling AT Massey subsidiaries settle MSHA fines vt uvAMWUjf molesting both boys and girls ranging from age 6- to 14-years-old from June 1990 to November 1991 officials said If kids' grades drop mom goes to jail PORTSMOUTH Instead of going to jail a convicted drug dealer will spend the next 15 years on probation with the condition that she make sure her four children stay in school with at least a average Mary Watson 26 was part of a trio caught with more than $25000 worth of drugs in one of biggest cocaine busts After saying it was more drugs than he had ever seen in his prior career as a prosecutor Circuit Judge Johnny Morrison gave Watson a 40-year suspended sentence Morrison told Watsbn she could land in jail if her children make any grades lower than over the next 15 years Police said Watson was arrested with her husband and a New York man after a search of her home last October The three were found in a room with cocaine and an electronic scale ministration determined that roof support pillars were being used in an unsafe manner in violation of the approved roof control plan MacCoon accused Kellys Creek Resources of taking in order to save time and increase production which exposed miners to unsafe roof support conditions The violations involve a failure to ensure that miners did not work beyond the last set of permanently installed roof supports a failure to maintain uniform pillar size and violating the approved roof control plan with respect to a specific pillar Please see COAL page 2B Southwest Virginia Bureau A Tennessee coal company and one of its officials pleaded guilty to three counts of violating federal mine safety laws involving a fatal cave-in on New Day Kellys Creek Resources Inc and Hollis Rogers a mine foreman entered the guilty pleas in a Chattanooga federal court on Wednesday Two miners were killed in the Jan 1 roof collapse at the No 78 mine located near Whit-well in Marion County Assistant US Attorney John MacCoon told Magistrate Judge John Powers that investigators for the Mine Safety and Health Ad In the settlement announced Wednesday the companies agreed to pay 85 percent of the proposed penalties or $39185 of the $46100 sought by MSHA Also AT Massey agreed to adopt new procedures to ensure the integrity of the dustsampling program Labor Secretary Lynn Martin suggested that the many coal operators facing similar citations ought to follow AT example Please see MASSEY page 2B Southwest Virginia Bureau Two subsidiaries of AT Massey Coal Co have settled the fines handed them last year by the Mine Safety and Health' Administration involving charges of tampering with the federal dust-sampling program MSHA issued 35 tampering citations to Martin County Coal Corp in Martin County Ky and Rawl Sales in Mingo County WVa which are subsidiaries of the Richmond-based AT Massey 2 Bush re-election chief rallies workers in Virginia By JEAN McNAIR Associated Press Writer reputation as the most liberal senator in the South Democratic convention was a good show They did a good job of obfuscating their real Mosbacher said He said he trusts the judgment to wait until after the National Republican Convention Aug 17-20 to begin full-scale campaigning years ago I was wringing my hands like some people are today about him not getting out Mosbacher said Bush has a very good political inner clock and I think going to wind it up and really start it with the Bush has jumped ahead of Clinton in organizing in Virginia A Bush state campaign office has been open for months and has one paid employee Dolan said Clinton plans to open a Virginia office in the next week or two and will hire at least two paid staffers Satellite offices are planned in Virginia Beach northern Virginia the Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia probably ahead of previous Democratic campaigns in Dolan said Virginia has not been on the radar screen This time a state going to put peo pie in and resources in" fore attending a $250-a-person reception A poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Opinion Research showed Clinton leading Bush by 44 percent to 37 percent among the 837 registered voters interviewed state is up for grabs given these poll findings and I think going to be said Virginia campaign coordinator Charles Dolan Jr Mosbacher said he expects Bush to campaign in Virginia He said the Republicans will attack 12-year record as governor of Arkansas and vorable publicity Clinton and his running mate Tennessee Sen A1 Gore have received since the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago may be leaving it on 'the practice field rather see them peak in July than October and I think what Mosbacher told reporters at state GOP headquarters Mosbacher who stepped down as US commerce secretary to head th? re-election team opened a campaign office in Suffolk and spoke at a $250-a-person lunch in Norfolk He met with state party leaders in Richmond be RICHMOND The general chairman of President re-election bid rallied campaign workers in Virginia Wednesday as an independent poll showed Democratic nominee Bill Clinton with a slight lead in the state Robert Mosbacher said it was and that Bush trails by only seven points in a state that the president won handily four years ago and that has voted Republican for president since 1968 He attributed lag to the fa.